Andrew Thomson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s University Belfast and a Fellow at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. He is an active member of several academic societies and currently serves on the governing council of the Conflict Research Society (CRS).

Andrew’s research interests reside in the areas of conflict studies, political violence, peacebuilding, and U.S. foreign policy. His expertise spans several interrelated areas:

Pro-Government Militias

Andrew has conducted extensive research on the dynamics of civil wars, with a particular focus on how paramilitaries or pro-government militias (PGMs) - categories that are often contested and imprecise - shape patterns of violence and influence war outcomes. His work in this area has appeared in leading journals including Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

Currently, Dr. Andrew Thomson is developing a broader international research agenda that examines how states deal with PGMs or paramilitary actors He is especially interested in understanding how such groups transition (or persist), what approaches governments adopt toward them during conflict and in post-conflict environments, and what forms of negotiation or dialogue might occur. This work aims to generate both theoretical insights and practical policy lessons for transitional settings.

The Colombian Peace Process

As part of this broader agenda, Andrew focuses on Colombia as a key case study. His 2017 project, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, explored how interactions between FARC members and other armed groups affected disarmament in a multi-actor conflict environment. More recently, his project “Negotiating with Your Allies? Lessons from the Government-AUC Peace Negotiations (2003–2005)” investigates Colombia’s engagement with the AUC in Santa fe de Ralito in 2003-2005. The research seeks to inform ongoing efforts under the “Total Peace” policy, particularly potential negotiations with groups such as the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC).

Positive Peace and Post-Conflict Societies

Andrew is leading the project “Positive Peace in Northern Ireland: A Northern Irish Peace Index” in collaboration with the Institute for Economics and Peace. This initiative aims to create the first empirical, data-driven Peace Index for Northern Ireland, tracking trends in both negative and positive peace over time. Through workshops and stakeholder engagement, the project also supports integrating positive peace frameworks into local peacebuilding strategies.

U.S. Counterinsurgency and Irregular Warfare

Andrew also explores how the United States works through irregular armed actors—including militias, private contractors, and mercenaries—in pursuit of foreign policy objectives. His most recent book, co-authored with Rubrick Biegon, The War on Terror: Short Histories (Agenda Press, 2025), provides a concise history of the global counterterrorism campaign. His earlier monograph, Outsourced Empire: How Militias, Mercenaries and Contractors Support US Statecraft, examines the outsourcing of violence in U.S. interventions.

Andrew is Programme Director/Convenor for the MA in Violence, Terrorism and Security. He teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including the following modules:

PAI7028 Violence, Terrorism and Security

PAI3038 US Foreign Policy

PAI2055 Security and Terrorism

PAI2065 Peace and Conflict Studies

PAI7007 Global Terrorism

He also contributes to courses on international security, conflict transformation, peace processes, and U.S. politics.

Andrew supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on a wide range of topics, including terrorism, jihadist groups, state violence, counterinsurgency, and peace negotiations.

He especially welcomes PhD proposals related to paramiltiaries/pro-government militias, political violence, and post-conflict transitions.

In 2015, he received a Student-Nominated Teaching Award from Queen’s University Belfast and earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) in 2012.

Born in Oxford, UK, Andrew is of Irish descent and was raised in Colombia and the United States. He earned a BA in Politics and International Relations (First Class Honours) from the University of Kent in 2007, followed by an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex in 2008. He completed his PhD in International Relations at the University of Kent in 2013.

He is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of Portuguese, French, and Italian.